Ars Technica reports that NASA has launched a new Web portal for open-source development projects, code.nasa.gov. NASA plans to develop the site, which at present contains a directory of existing open-source projects and a guide to NASA’s open-source process, into a development hub.

As the site matures, NASA intends to turn it into a development hub with a forum and hosted collaboration tools that make it easier for NASA software projects to transition to open development.

The launch of the new site was announced in a post on the NASA blog, which also outlined some of NASA’s goals for the site.

Today we are launching code.nasa.gov, the latest member of the open NASA web family. Through this website, we will continue, unify, and expand NASA’s open source activities. The site will serve to surface existing projects, provide a forum for discussing projects and processes, and guide internal and external groups in open development, release, and contribution.

The site’s directory currently lists ten projects, including dara compression software, and an orbit mapping toolbox. Not all of the projects have source code available at this point, but NASA says that more will be coming soon.

This release builds on previous work that NASA has done with open source. It should be of considerable interest to space buffs, and hopefully will elicit some valuable contributions to NASA’s projects/